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Between the rotisserie chicken, food court options, and their sample carts, Costco has achieved near-cult status. Where else can you get enough ketchup to make it through the apocalypse or find a comfortable couch for under $1,200?
It’s an easy place to rack up travel points, too. And then, of course, there’s the food court. What’s a trip to Costco without a cheap hot dog or slice of pizza?
For business owners and people with tons of storage space, Costco usually can’t be beat. But is it the best place to save cash? It might not be, depending on how you shop.
Costco makes it easy to overspend
I have a list of items I always get at Costco, like my favorite dairy-free buffalo sauce, rice, and ketchup. But it’s also really easy for me to overspend. Costco is about half an hour from my house, so I only go once every few months. As a result, I tend to over-do the stocking up.
Sometimes, I forget that I have three extra jars of Better Than Bouillon in the basement or a massive bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer. Five pounds of peaches sounds like a great idea, but I often don’t eat them before they start going bad. Add in the clothing, books, and toiletries section and I’m lucky to get out of Costco for less than $600.
If you break down prices by ounce, Costco is often the cheaper option — but not always. Plus, if you end up overspending on perishable goods or making impulse purchases, there might be options that are cheaper in the long run.
Aldi offers low-cost groceries and household items
If you have access to Aldi, it can be a great substitute for Costco. Like Costco, store-branded items are often far cheaper than name brands at the regular grocery store. For example, I can get 100 tablets of ibuprofen at Aldi for $1.99, which works out to $0.019 per tablet. Costco charges $12.99 for 1,000 tablets, which comes out to $0.012 per tablet, which isn’t much of a difference.
Many Aldi stores also have a good section of dairy-free and gluten-free items, which can be pricey at regular stores and hard to find at Costco.
The Aldi Finds section offers seasonal, limited-time items like pool floats, seasonal gnome decorations, rain boots, and snow pants. These items change every week and are often far cheaper than Costco or any other stores. For example, I spent $100 on Columbia hiking boots that ended up pinching my toes, but my $12 hiking boots from Aldi have hiked dozens of miles with no problem at all.
Local grocery stores often beat beat Costco prices
Not every city has an Aldi, or it might not be convenient to you. But there’s a good chance you have an even cheaper option closer to home. Small, local grocery stores are often affordable and stock a wide variety of items.
In my corner of Ohio, we have Marc’s. The stores are smaller than Costco and most grocery stores, but offer a wide selection of items. Its closeout section offers everything from school supplies and t-shirts to pet beds. Most of these items are bought from Target or similar stores when it swaps out stock for the season.
I regularly find Justice and Cat and Jack kids’ clothing for less than $2 per piece. While Marc’s doesn’t sell 2,000 tablets of Ibuprofen, I can get off-brand cold and flu medicine for less than $5 a bottle, while Costco charges $29.99 for a three-pack of DayQuil and NightQuil.
Marc’s is only in Ohio, but most cities have local grocery stores with similar pricing. When I lived in Chicago, for example, our local neighborhood market did.
If you find yourself struggling to stay on budget at Costco, look around your neighborhood for a locally owned grocery store. They don’t always offer the selection (or the cheap rotisserie chickens) you’ll find at Costco, but they are usually very affordable — and you won’t be tempted to buy that $1,000 patio set. For the samples and the food court pizza, however, you’ll have to make the trek to Costco.
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